“The ultimate secret to getting a team into the zone en masse: He gave them a cause to play for.”
— Morne du Plessis, winning coach of South Africa in 1995, speaking of Alex Ferguson in Clyde Brolin’s book ‘In the Zone’
CREATION OF A CAUSE
Many performance psychologists rightly point to the unsustainable nature of a cause that is fuelled by anger or indignation. But a cause linked to emotion, that reinforces the sense you are playing for something immeasurable or intangible, can be very powerful.
While Waterford manager we faced two such situations where our opposition were undoubtedly playing for something bigger than themselves. The old adage that “there’s no way we were being beaten today” was very authentic following the untimely passings of Jimmy Doyle and Tony Keady prior to the Munster final of 2015 and the All-Ireland final of 2017.
While deeply respectful of the losses to the families, the cause also seemed to add a layer of improvement to the Tipperary and Galway teams. Interviewed last January, Gearóid Hegarty likened his All-Ireland final performance to “an out of body experience and being really in the zone”.
He also referenced and credited Brolin’s book with helping him with perspective and mindset before, during, and after games. While there is a lot of focus on the processes that players follow, emotion still has a place in creating a cause.
The creation of a cause can be challenging for a management, but nonetheless worth the effort. Ahead of our championship meeting with Clare in 2016 we felt the need to add to an already bubbling cause. A sense of anger and injustice had fuelled our preparation having lost the replay of the National League final to Clare.
This anger needed to be softened with some perspective and a sense of purpose as to what and why we put our lives into hurling. During our five-day stint in Fota, we presented the lads with scrap books of their careers to date.
We had made contact with their parents, mentors from their clubs, primary and secondary school teachers and other major influencers on their lives.
Having handed over the books we left the lads to the privacy of their lodges. The emotion, humour, and focus all synergised to create a nice realisation that making memories is as important as any outcome.
Liam Sheedy will have focused on the extreme effort needed from his players to win on Sunday. And while the mechanics and data are important contributors to performance, Liam’s approach will undoubtedly dwell on the theme of Limerick’s recent superiority over Tipp, as well as false narrative around Tipperary’s ageing team. Liam will always play the best 20 players available to him in Tipperary and this is exactly what he is currently doing.
CAN LIMERICK BE RATTLED?
“To know your enemy you must become your enemy.”
Sun Tzu, ‘The Art of War’
The target on Limerick’s backs has sat well due to the underpinning humility that John Kiely lives by, the genius of Paul Kinnerk, and the mindset coaching of Caroline Currid. A proactive and visionary board, allied to a generous and caring benefactor, are obviously helpful also.
In that department, Tipperary are their equal, with a fired-up Sheedy, the creative Eamon O’Shea, and Gary Keegan driving performance behaviours.
With success, the target on Limerick’s backs becomes bigger. Their league game with Waterford this year in Walsh Park bore all the signs of an “enough is enough” approach from the Déise. Much and all as it will be denied in pre- and post-match interviews, I have no doubt that much of the motivation surrounding the taking down of Limerick will centre on the idea that “it’s time these fellas were knocked off their lofty perch” — even if the language used may be somewhat different. Sheedy will have diligently looked at the All-Ireland semi-final of 2019 and the Munster final of last year as reference points for Sunday.
Kilkenny confronted the theory that you can’t mix it physically with Limerick by flooding the middle third with bodies, conceding the puckout to the Limerick full-back line, before manically pressing almost like a front five in rugby.
It remains the only time that I saw Kiely and Kinnerk somewhat flustered on the line. Twenty minutes in, Limerick changed to seven at the back, with Kyle Hayes taking up TJ Reid and Declan Hannon sweeping.
A more informative point arrives on 64 minutes when a close-up of Kiely and Kinnerk shows the manager telling Shane Dowling to “push up the field” whilst his lieutenant is clearly telling him to “come out”. An ensuing ‘discussion’ is the only time I can remember the Limerick management team disagreeing in the heat of battle.
WHAT ABOUT THE PLAN?
“By analysing, planning and rehearsing in advance you can make a rational decision, the best choice for the situation at hand… that still leaves room for those gut decisions you want to make.”
Bill Walsh, ‘The Score Takes Care of Itself’
Two days before Waterford played Clare in the championship, I had a meeting with my college supervisor in UCC.
On the way home I decided to drop into Fota, a combination of curiosity and memory took me to the field where we had a number of camps during my time with Waterford. The car quickly doubled back when I saw members of the Tipperary management lining the field with cones. It was clear that Tipperary’s preparation was earnest and real. Tipperary will have looked first at what has not worked before against Limerick. The relocation of Brendan Maher to pick up Aaron Gillane will hardly reoccur.
Given that Cathal Barrett performed so admirably on Tony Kelly, will he be tasked with Gillane? The only difference is Gillane’s serious and often underused ability to win ball in behind in the air.
Management minds will have focused on simple questions: “How do we man-mark Gearóid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, and Tom Morrissey and yet have a good enough defensive shape not to be exposed at the back?”
Brendan Maher may well be tasked to go toe to toe with Lynch in a reprisal of his role with Borris-Ileigh, double team with Dan McCormack who would fill the space vacated by Maher following Lynch deep down the field.
Crucial to this working would be McCormack matching up with Darragh O’Donovan and allowing him rather than Lynch some space.
A change of wings might see Ronan Maher more suitable to Tom Morrissey than Gearóid Hegarty, with the athleticism of Seamus Kennedy or Alan Flynn enabling them go toe-to-toe with the hurler of the year.
With Limerick only playing with two inside, Barry Heffernan and Barrett may face off with Gillane and Flanagan, with Paraic Maher staying put to act as a Hannon-type distributor.
Tipperary’s dogs of war — McCormack, Michael Breen, Jake Morris and the underrated Niall O’Meara — can double-job in both the warzone and half-back line, but also support the silken skills of Bubbles, Seamie Callanan, and Jason Forde.
We may well see Liam situate Noel McGrath deep in his own half as an outlet ball and as double cover for the Tipp half-backs. The maxim may well be that O’Donovan and Will O’Donoghue are less likely to hurt us than the others.
The other focus area for Tipperary will be on stopping the ‘hurling backs’ of Limerick. Blunting the driving runs of Kyle Hayes, the link-up play of Hannon, and the zonal point-scoring of Diarmuid Byrnes is more advisable than concentrating on Seán Finn, Richie English, and Barry Nash.
To that end, Tipp may well have looked at the impact Callanan had at 11 in the early phases of the Munster final of 2019. If Breen is tasked with marauding, tracking and challenging Hayes offensively, Sheedy will balance the telling impact that Jake Morris had at 12 during the Clare game with the possibility of rotating O’Meara with a more renowned scorer in Bubbles or Forde on Diarmuid Byrnes.
Remember, if Morris or O’Meara go to the warzone, Byrnes won’t follow and will stay between the 21 and 45 before timing his point-scoring forays forward. A Bubbles or a Forde for 10 minutes popping up on the other side presents a slightly different dynamic.
5:45 SUNDAY, JULY 18: THE CAUSE AFTER THE VICTORY
While something in my bones is telling me that Tipperary will muster a massive effort on Sunday, it’s hard not to foresee and hear Declan Hannon acknowledging how special it is as a Limerick man to be win another Munster crown - their third title in a row - and acknowledging THEIR CAUSE. Do not, however, rule out a sequel before the year has ended.
